3 dead in Los Angeles-area shootings within 1 hour

SAN FERNANDO, Calif. - Three people were fatally shot and two others injured early Sunday in three separate attacks within the span of an hour in the northern suburbs of Los Angeles. The attacks could be related, police said.

Authorities are asking for the public's help in finding a tan or light-colored SUV with tinted windows that was spotted leaving at least one crime scene in the San Fernando Valley area, LAPD spokeswoman Officer Liliana Preciado said. LAPD command staff was meeting to determine if a threat continued, she said.

"That's of course something we are thinking about and looking into because it's three within the span of an hour," she said. "We're asking the public's help."

A 20-year-old woman was found dead at the scene of the first shooting at 5:50 a.m. in San Fernando, Preciado said. Two others were injured there.

Forty-five minutes later, at 6:35 a.m., the Los Angeles Police Department responded to a call of shots fired in Sylmar and found a man in his mid-20s to mid-30s dead at the scene.

Ten minutes later, a third woman was found dead of a gunshot wound to the head, Preciado said.

No further information was immediately available, but police were expected to hold a news conference later Sunday.

The shootings took place in the San Fernando Valley, about 30 miles north of downtown Los Angeles.